


Nightmares

by LibertyKingdom



Category: Mulan (1998)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 14:12:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15775716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibertyKingdom/pseuds/LibertyKingdom
Summary: Dream - Find my muse moving in their sleep due to a dream or nightmare.





	Nightmares

It has only been a few days since Mulan had been returned home from the battlefield. It was true what soldiers say: ‘there is no place like home’. Even more so, there was no better feeling than slipping into a nice, comfortable, and warm bed. Yet, the concept of tranquil slumber still evades her.

It takes relatively little time for the nightmares to creep in. Ice slips effortlessly through her veins like a dragon boat glides across the waves of the ocean. The putrid stench of smoke stings at her nostrils. A thick grey haze lingers over the smoldering remains of what had once been a beautiful village in the Tung Shao Pass. There is scarcely anything left of it.

Her amber gaze surveys the incredible scene of destruction until it fixates upon a forlorn looking doll. It wasn’t unlike the ones Mulan had played with as a child. Instinct compels her to pluck it from the scarlet stained and snow-covered ground. The glimpse of the doll warps into visions of hundreds of corpses discarded like useless trash across the valley. It is the work of the Huns. Not a man, woman, nor child had been spared.

“No!” Mulan grumbles, shifting rather abruptly in her bed. She hopes that by doing so she can free herself from this nightmare. The images briefly fade into a minor repose, a vision of black.

Suddenly, a terrifying flash of silver slices through the peace. It is followed by the agony of being cut open with a sharp blade. Her hand immediately flies to the bandages still protecting the slowly mending wound and she lets out a disquieted whimper. She begins to kick around in her sheets, attempting to fend off the imagined Hun. One of the sharper movements is followed by a scream for her frantic efforts tug viciously at her stitches. Her breathing becomes tattered as if, it was tangling somewhere between her lungs and her throat.

Mulan moves to gaze at her own reflection in the expanse of her father’s helmet but what she sees does not belong to her. Charcoal hues glower with the ferocity of Dante’s Inferno, a city alight with ravenous flames. A snarl ghost across curt lips followed by a gruff unwelcome voice. “The soldier from the mountains..” The words resound relentlessly through her mind as the face of Shan Yu pulls into focus with a frightening clarity. Beads of sweat trickle like rain down her ghastly pale face. Fingers curl apprehensively into the sheets.“NO! STOP!” Her voice commandingly expresses as the hulking figure moves towards Li Shang. A mist if liquid silver burdens her long dark lashes.

Before she can rescue Shang, a warmth finds her arm causing Mulan to shoot upright in her bed. Her arms rise defensively in case she found the need to defend herself from another attack. Adrenaline pulses like the beating of a thousand drums in her ears. Mulan’s chest heaves violently as her eyes slowly grow accustomed to the familiar surroundings of her room. “Mama?” She utters breathlessly. It was certainly the last person Mulan had expected to be there. But Mulan is so glad that it is her mother and not the enemy. Relief allows her shoulders to lower from their guarded position. “I’m… sorry. I… I didn’t mean to disturb you…” She hangs her head in shame as she apologizes. Sheepishly, Mulan’s calloused hands gingerly reach out to embrace her beloved mother. Swallowing thickly, Mulan repentantly reiterates, “I’m so sorry.”


End file.
